Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-12-27
FOIL. I..s.o in Tsnron-A,lu Amusing
Customs.

NusfOHIs.
At the last meeting o. the Dumfries
and Galloway Antiquarian Society nv
James Shaw. TWron, read the following
paper:
An old farmer, who died three years
AGO M Tyur0n, related to ne his cypc-
uence with % witch i'm Closahurn vi. p
he was boy. he was cartiug free
stones froma ncichboriug quarry, when
ms horse came To- "a standstIil opposite
the Witchs door. Two o.her cWtcrs
passed him, and only ieered both ut
the witch and the boy, when the
former. to whom he lad always
been civil, came forward, and with
a slight push adjusted the ponderous
stone which had slipped and was stop
ping the wheel Now go. ' She said 4;
"thou Wilt find them at the gate below
Gilchristiand. 1T that very spot he
found the perplexed carriers standing,
both horses trembling and sweating, so
that he easily went past them ami GOT to
his goal first. The same individual
could name "a person at whose glance the
milk being drawn from the uddors Of
the COWS became blood while his sister
was milking them. / have Observed
horse shoes nailed up against ms stable
wall 10 scare away uncanny influence.
A dairy-woman, who resided be
side me about fifteen years ago,
informed me that when young She
bad resided in Kirkconnel, Iyuron. and
that the house was haunted st night
strange faces peered IN at the window
and ei1ritch laughter was heard. Her
father once saw rcd figure ut dusk in
the ledge of the bridge near the house,
which appeared OF human shape, but
disappeared as he approached. Tie also
on one occasion saw my inf0rmants
sweetheart on the road coming TO see
her although at the time he WIS several
miles off, \ housekeeper | had who
died few years ago assured me that
while she was . servant with medical
man in Monimye strange footballs
were frequently heard in an up
per room. The Doctor after a
while suddenly took i'll, lay down on a
sofa, ana died over the very spot on the
floor where these alarming footballs had
been most frequently heard. i young
mau who had been attending classes in
Edinburgh came home. and one evening
that ] was in his fathers house set OF
balloon alter sunset. The candle in it set
the whole tissue ON fire while it was
soaring above our heads. \ shep-
herd whom / knew, seeing the
light from distance, rushed in
a state OF great agitation into neigh
boring cottage which happened to
be near and brought out the gudeman Of
the house. Both thought that it must
have been the iight tOhich is Scca Gcforc
dcafh but the mistress OF the house
rather soOthcd them 10y remarking that
such light could not be seen by two at
once. An old woman informed me that
she had witnessed this premonitory light,
which lighted up the Interior OF the byre
while she was engaged milking her COWS,
and she learned that her mother, re-
siding some miles distant. had expired
that same evening.
Readers viii recolect the fateful light
in Sir Walter SCOTS ballad OF lovely
Rosabelie. James Hogg, the Ettrick
refers 10 an omen called the
Death-bell, "A tingling in the ears,
which is believed to announce friends
death. AS the eight before death
could not be seen by two at once, so the
death-bell could only be heard by one
at time. Lhe relations of gem
tleman residing in lynron have been
warned of death by the sound Of wheels
upon the gravel walk leading 10 the door,
when no wheels were there and 10 a
family III Durisdeer the warning came
like a switch against the panes
of the window. The old precen
tor OF Glencairn. who died SIX or
seven years ago, told me that while walk
lug one evening in his garden in medi-
tative mood he heard a sound as If cart
containing pieces OF metal had been
tilted up and the materials discharged.
his belief was that a murdered infant